Day 17 - Faith despite you.

I was cornered in the copy room today by a supervisor who wanted me to know that the reason he didn't get his paperwork turned in by the deadline was that "He had to be in 5 places at one time today, and it just wasn't possible."

After he left, I started thinking about the work load that most people there are struggling under, and how - typically, if you told any one of us that x amount had to be accomplished we'd easily inform you that "It just wasn't possible."

But it's amazing, how often the impossible is accomplished every single day. I accomplished the impossible today. And somehow, that same supervisor showed up less than an hour later with paperwork he swore could not be turned in within the next 24hrs.

Amazing.

And I wonder how often God gives us trials just so we can see that whatever impossible thing we don't think we can handle, cope with, endure,.... amazingly enough - we can. Like the song says "If I never had a problem, I wouldn't know that God could solve them... I'd never know what faith in God could do."

We imagine learning something through trials. But I don't think when I've ever thought of it, that I imagined I would simply learn what was right in front of me. The power, the ability, the grace, the healing, the hope... all right there in front of you just sitting there invisible though until pressure forces your eyes, and your heart to search harder.

It's faith despite you.

While you say you can't handle it, while you say you can't forgive, while you say you can't bear the hurt - God says, "Look in front of you." There is faith, there is hope, there is strength, there is grace. But without that pressure, you might never realize what is available. You might never realize the kind of God you have. The kind of God for every single situation you will encounter.

You wouldn't have chosen it for yourself... not at all. And you typically object to it every step of the way. But despite you, God shows you. Shows you how much you can trust Him. Shows you how deep that grace goes. Shows you what He can do for others as well.

If we were in charge of our own growth we'd be in trouble. But thankfully, God grows us, teaches us, and creates in us something beautiful and amazing - despite us.